it is you who...

[Batfink]

Originally Posted by banderas

Batfink, Stuart's comment is that I meant. "it is you who decide" is correct but sounds unnatural to 9 out of 10 natives. Why?

It is not correct and I would like to meet the one native speaker who would say otherwise.

Who/you are dependent on the subject of the sentence. The subject is "it". Therefore, "decides" is correct. Start learning about dependent and independent clauses; relative/subordinate pronouns et cetera.

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by Batfink

The subject is "it". Therefore, "decides" is correct.

But in your earlier post your said, "you must you use "decide". What's changed?

[Batfink]

Originally Posted by stuartnz

I don't think the key pronoun here is "you". I think the pronoun the verb has to agree with is "it". If I replace "you" with "I", the result is the same. "It is I who decides or "I am the one who decides. I hope a teacher can come along and clear this mess up.

"who" is related to "it" (relative pronoun).

"it" is the subject of the sentence, not "you".

[Batfink]

Originally Posted by stuartnz

But in your earlier post your said, "you must you use "decide". What's changed?

I did indeed, apologies. Oops! I type too fast! And do not preview my posts!

I have edited the mistake and again, apologies!!!

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by Batfink

I did indeed, apologies. Oops! I type too fast! And do not preview my posts!

I have edited the mistake and again, apologies!!!

Thank you! That's why I was confused.

[Batfink]

Originally Posted by stuartnz

Thank you! That's why I was confused.

Thanks. If you look at my first post you can see that I foresaw the difficulty in explaining what is referred to (in the Cambridge Advanced English book) as the "empty it". Consider "it is cold". Well what is cold? The weather is cold. "It rains a lot in Derry". What is "it"?

I always ask my more advanced students the last question. "It" drives them crazy!

To define "it" is tricky. But here, "it" is used as an anticipatory subject to make the phrase / sentence more eloquent or suspenseful, to shift emphasis.

"It" is certainly tricky for a student to learn.

[banderas]

Originally Posted by Batfink

I did indeed, apologies. Oops! I type too fast! And do not preview my posts!

I have edited the mistake and again, apologies!!!

good, we found the real subject, but I am still confused about "I am good" instead of "I am well" when asking "how are you"?

[Batfink]

Originally Posted by banderas

good, we found the real subject, but I am still confused about "I am good" instead of "I am well" when asking "how are you"?

Yes, this can be confusing for students. Good is most commonly used as an adjective to describe nouns and pronouns, as in these examples:

She is a good student.

That is a good question.

The word well would be wrong in these two example sentences because it is an adverb. However as you see in your example, well is a predicate adjective describing the pronoun "I".



It is an exception to the rule.

[banderas]

Originally Posted by Batfink

"who" is related to "it" (relative pronoun).

"it" is the subject of the sentence, not "you".

how about " it is people who make a difference to the comunity"?

if "it" is the subject of the sentece and not " people", then it should be " it is people who makes the difference to the comunity".
My logic is: people make the difference so it is people who make it.

it is you who decide about....
you decide about..., so it is you who decide about....

perhaps I should leave it but...I remember reading some newspaper and come across (I am sure 100%) "it is people who make..." Could any one comment on it, please?

[Batfink]

Originally Posted by banderas

how about " it is people who make a difference to the comunity"?

if "it" is the subject of the sentece and not " people", then it should be " it is people who makes the difference to the comunity".
My logic is: people make the difference so it is people who make it.

it is you who decide about....
you decide about..., so it is you who decide about....

perhaps I should leave it but...I remember reading some newspaper and come across (I am sure 100%) "it is people who make..." Could any one comment on it, please?

I can 'hear' that one. It is idiomatic then and not grammatically correct. Personally, and honestly, I would use makes. Maybe someone could take the baton and run with you now?

Newspapers reflect more and more the language in use at a given time.